Never/Rarely (N/R subway lines)
The N/R subway lines are often called the "Never" and the "Rarely" because of infrequent service. The slang has been current since at least 1996. The "R" line was…
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World Trade Center; Twin Towers
The name "World Trade Center" has been cited since at least 1960 and "Twin Towers" has been cited in print since at least 1964. The World Trade Center opened in 1973 and was…
Off-Off Broadway
"Off-Off Broadway" (or O.O.B.) has really small houses. Did the Caffe Cino start it all, at the end of the 1950s? If not, it was certainly one of the first. Wikipedia: Off-Off…
Tony Award
The "Tony" award goes annually to Broadway's best. The Broadway theatre award was first given out in 1947. The "Tony" is named after Antoinette Perry (1888-1946),…
Obie Award
The "Obie" is the off-Broadway award, created by the Village Voice in 1956. "Obie" stands for "O.B.," or "Off-Broadway." Wikipedia: Obie AwardThe Obie Awards…
Bat Mitzvah
The Bat (or Bas) Mitzvah began in New York City in May 1922. The place was the Society for the Advancement of Judaism (http://www.thesaj.org), located at 15 West 86th Street. The synagogue was run…
Mush (sauerkraut & roll)
No one seems to know much about "mush." The Brooklyn Historical Society Library will re-open in 2005. The Brooklyn Public Library will perhaps continue its digitization of the Brooklyn…
Eurotrash
Did Taki coin the term in the early 1980s? Usage note: it can be Euro-trash, Eurotrash, euro-trash, or eurotrash. It is not a complimentary term for Europeans; refrain from using it. 6 December…
Alternate side of the street parking
"Alternate Side" seems like some ancient tradition carried over from the Dutch, but it's only from about 1950. It's called "street cleaning regulations" now. 17…
“Don’t Even THINK of Parking Here,” “No Parking, No Standing, No Stopping, No Kidding”
These two signs both date from 1982. As many of you know, I am a parking judge. I have never seen a summons for "thinking" or "kidding," however. 15 June 1982, New York Times,…
Flagel (Flat Bagel, or Flat)
The "flagel" (FLAY-gel) -- also called a "flat bagel," "bagel flat" and "flat" -- appears to have been invented in Long Island or New York City in the 1980s…
Nuyorican
"Nuyorican" means New York Puerto Rican.I couldn't easily beat these latest citations, from the revised Oxford English Dictionary. Neorican, n. and a.orig. and chiefly U.S. [<…
Chop Suey
San Francisco and New York City both have Chinatowns, and both claim "chop suey." New York appears to have the earliest citations for the dish (that was not invented in 1896). Museum of…
NoHo (North of Houston Street)
"NoHo" means "north of Houston Street." I was told that a bus tour guide has joked that it's because the area contains no whores, or "no ho's." Those bus…
Bet a Big Apple
People began betting a big (red) apple since at least 1839. A "big apple" was a prized fruit and a popular non-monetary reward. Why didn't they bet a big banana? Why not a big…
“On Line” (not “in line”)
New Yorkers say "on line" where other Americans say "in line." The Dictionary of American Regional English, volume III I-O, has this on page 877: in phr. on line: In line.…
Power Breakfast; Power Lunch
It's difficult to say the precise date and place when the "power breakfast" or the "power lunch" came into being. It appears that such "breakfast" and…
Little India (East 6th Street in Manhattan)
"Little India" on East 6th Street in Manhattan, between First and Second Avenues (there is also a "Little India" in Jackson Heights, Queens), began in 1968 when the first Indian…
Murder, Inc.
"Murder, Inc." is the name of the old criminal association of the 1930s and 1940s. The name was coined in a New York World-Telegram headline, from headline writer Asa Bordages…
Little Brazil
"Little Brazil Street," West 46th Street between 5th Avenue and Broadway, was dedicated in 1996. 30 April 1968, New York Times, pg. 49:City's Brazilians Cluster Colorfully in West…